Craig Martell on sat 14 dec 96
Hello Clayart: I need to work on a Shino glaze that I use, so I was
following my own advice today, reading Stoneware Glazes-A Systematic
Approach, by Ian Currie and low and behold I ran across the most amazing
thing. Well, it got a rise out of me anyway.
In the last few weeks there have been many posts about crazing and its
causes, plus related technical and aesthetic issues. Richard Burkett sent in
a very good thought about being overly concerned with technical stuff at the
expense of aesthetics and today I found this stuff by Ian Currie that really
hit home on this subject. I would very much like to share it with you all.
Ian says: "It is this that I find inspiring about traditional Shino Ware,
the way it defies virtually every rule in the book. The soft, asymmetrical,
casual forms with their crazed, crawled, and pinholed glaze, and the fragile,
porous and often cracked body, all combine to form a united assault on
accepted standards of excellence in industrial ceramics. Shino Ware defies
what I call the "machine aesthetic" that has indoctrinated us to prefer
products that machines make best. According to this "aesthetic" pots should
be regular and even, preferably round, thin, and available in identically
matching sets. The glaze should be refined and free of crazing, pinholes,
and other "flaws". The clay should also be refined and strong, preferably
vitreous. On this scale of values, Shino Ware (as typified by the
traditional teabowls, waterjars etc. being made over the last four hundred
years) would rate about zero out of ten! And yet these pots have always
been highly prized. An appreciation of Japanese Shino Ware can be
illuminating in our search for values that are relevant to Artist/craftsman
potters whose primary concern is the quality of their work as opposed to
businessmen potters, whose main aim is to maximize profit".
Man!, I just loved this. This guy is eloquent and right on. The book is
also full of great info about making glazes-Such a deal!!
Craig Martell-Oregon, Looking for a balance, while running around in circles
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